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Pioneering projects using smartphones and wearable technology to address the high levels of health inequalities and disease across the region, have been awarded funding at the South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub (SYDHH).

Led by the University of Sheffield, in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University, the £4 million South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub will improve peoples’ health and quality of life by creating innovative digital health tools that fuse data from daily life activities with NHS data.

The ambitious digital healthcare hub, which is part of the Insigneo Institute at the University of Sheffield and the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, is leading the UK’s digital health revolution while addressing inequalities in patient care.

The hub recently marked its first year anniversary with £500,000 of new funding to seven innovative projects which aim to make a difference, leveraging cutting-edge technology by combining data from smartphones, wearables, and sensors with existing NHS data to create novel clinical tools to tackle a wide range of issues.

Professor Tim Chico, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Sheffield and Director of the SYDHH said: “Digital health innovation is an essential part of how the NHS can cope with the huge demands it is faced with. Our job is to make sure this innovation meets the needs of patients, carers, and healthcare professionals and doesn't leave anyone behind.

“The Digital Health Hub is the "glue" that brings together a wide range of organisations and different experts to design innovations that serve our region's needs. South Yorkshire is going to show the world how to make progress that is both fast and fair.”

Steve Haake, Professor of Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University and Deputy Director of SYDHH, added: “One year anniversaries are always surprising: on the one hand it seems like the year has passed in a flash; on the other, it feels like a long hard year of work. We started out the year by asking patients and the public about what they felt most crucial about digital health; they told us they wanted to have key principles such as trust and transparency while keeping their data private and secure. They also wanted us to focus on key conditions such as mental health and long-term conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and dementia.”

One of the projects receiving funding is using AI and data from wearables and smartphones to develop a faster, more convenient, and equitable way to diagnose coronary artery disease.

Dr Rafic Ramses, lead investigator from the University of Sheffield said: "Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the UK's biggest killer. Right now, diagnosing it often involves long waits, expensive tests like CT scans, and can be harder for some people to access than others. Our goal is to develop simple, quick tests that can be done in local communities. This would make CAD diagnosis faster, reduce the need for costly tests, and ensure everyone has equal access to care."

Another project is to develop a mobile app to help patients prepare for joint replacement surgery. The app will track resistance training exercises and provide personalised feedback, aiming to improve post-surgery outcomes.

Dr Andrew Barnes from the School of Sport and Physical Activity at Sheffield Hallam University who is leading this project said: “ The success of many primary care pathways relies on the close monitoring of patients, where individuals visit healthcare settings to monitor their condition and its progression. But resource challenges within the sector coupled with technological advances mean there is now great potential to optimise some of these care pathways using mobile technologies and biofeedback. 

“For instance, in the context of joint replacement surgery, mobile systems can provide real-time monitoring of patient progress, reducing the need for frequent in-person visits and empowering individuals to prepare better for their surgery and take a more active role in their recovery."

The other funded projects will develop digital solutions for other key areas :

• Track how people with long-term neurological conditions walk in real-world situations to help doctors diagnose these conditions earlier and monitor how they progress and decide on the best treatment for these conditions.
• Allow women to share their experiences with hormonal contraception, addressing the lack of real-world data and improving women's health, especially in under-represented and underserved communities.
• Simplify medical imaging reports to improve patient understanding and reduce clinician workload.
• Use artificial intelligence to better predict how long people with lung cancer will live and how well they will respond to treatment by combining different types of data, such as medical images, tissue samples, and patient records. This will help doctors make more accurate decisions and improve patient care.
• Use wearable technology to detect early signs of bleeding in patients taking anti-clotting drugs. This would allow for earlier intervention and prevent serious health complications.

Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire, said: “I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want South Yorkshire to be the healthiest region in the UK. That’s why I’m so pleased to see the Digital Health Hub continue to make such progress.

“The groundbreaking work they’re funding shows the power technology has to transform patient care and address the stark health inequalities that are holding us back in South Yorkshire.

“Innovation and collaboration are central to the poor health outcomes that are a reality for people across South Yorkshire. By investing in both we can build a bigger and better economy and make sure everyone can live their fullest and best life.“

The South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub is fully committed to creating impactful change and driving innovation in healthcare.The next round of funding will be scheduled to start mid-2025.